Lufthansa Board OKs Major Aircraft Acquisitions

The Lufthansa supervisory board has loosened its purse strings and approved a series of major fleet additions, led by 100 Airbus A320 family jets. The Lufthansa Group also plans to order a pair of Airbus A380s and six Boeing 777-300ERs, raising the total value of its newly announced acquisitions to $13.1 billion.

The commitment for the 100 narrowbodies calls for delivery of 35 A320neos, 35 A321neos and 30 current-generation A320s equipped with Airbus’s proprietary Sharklet wingtip devices. Airbus said Lufthansa would announce its engine choices at a later date. Already flying 217 A320-family narrowbodies, as well as 41 A330s 63 A340s and 10 A380s, the Lufthansa Group ranks as Airbus’s largest customer.

The commitment for the pair of A380s signals Lufthansa’s intention to place its second repeat order for the superjumbos. One of the earliest customers for the double-decker transport, it originally placed an order for 15 in 2001, followed by another for two in 2011. Conversion of this latest commitment would raise its order total to 19.

In the long-range twin-engine category, Lufthansa intends to deploy the six new Boeing 777-300ERs to which it has committed with its Swiss International subsidiary. The airplanes, worth $1.9 billion at list prices, would replace some of its 15 Airbus A340 quads on long-haul routes from Zurich and Geneva.